Yusuf Azak – Live at Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, Friday 24th April 2009
I have been a big fan of Yusuf Azak since I first heard his recent EP, Light Procession, last year but I’ve yet to even have the chance to see him live. I was, therefore, really looking forward to this lineup, not least because it also included Edinburgh’s favourite mercurial musical maniac Enfant Bastard.
Yusuf’s recorded material is heavily layered and full of effects, so I was really curious to see how this would translate to what was the most basic solo acoustic setup: him, his acoustic guitar, and nothing else. The result was that one thing remained constant: his voice; and another emerged from the shadows to take centre stage: his guitar playing.
There is a really warm breathiness to his singing voice which is instantly captivating. He doesn’t have the hoarse growl of a barroom bourbon guzzler, exactly, nor the hushed grumble of an ageing bluesman, more accurately he sings with a really easy, scratched and yet somehow also honeyed charisma. Some voice, anyway, however you describe it.
The guitar playing is another genuine highlight. I don’t have the technical knowledge to know whether or not what he was doing was difficult, but it fucking well looked it, and more importantly it sounded amazing. I don’t know how much of his style comes from his Turkish (I think – sorry Yusuf, if I’m wrong) heritage and how much comes from the acoustic influences he cites, such as Eliot Smith or Nick Drake, but it sounds faintly exotic in any case, and makes for a superb combination with his vocals.
For something as basic as a bloke with an acoustic guitar, this felt like a band gig, somehow. It was a great performance which was enveloped in a strangely self-contradictory aura of shyness and confidence, and one which makes me really want to see him play again. For those outside the half-dozen or so people in this audience, missing this gig was a mistake which you should rectify as soon as possible
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Yusuf Azak – The Key Underground
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
I feel very stupid listening to this. I enjoyed but was unimpressed the first time I heard these. Then, about five minutes ago played the above tracks and couldn’t beleive I wasn’t bowled over the first time. Great stuff.
You’re quite right Toad, my non attendance at said gig borders on evil. After listening to the two songs, I am convicted of my guilt. I shall tighten my cilice…
Has he released anything more since the EP?
There are two EPs, both downloadable via his MySpace page. Both are superb.
(Like the new website by the way.)
This was definitely one of the more captivating gigs I’ve been to so far this year.
I’m a total dickhead for posting this comment on a mostly unrelated post. But, speaking of sparsely attended gigs (and it wasn’t actually that poorly attended, except by this lot). I just got home from the Bowery, where I witnessed the most amazing gig I’ve seen in ages. It was an experimental noise gig. WAIT!!! keep reading. Think of all the “experimental electronica” bits we love about Meursault (I say WE here – they are close friends of mine, and I’ve loved them since I first saw them at a Gentle Invasion gig in Spring 2007), and amplify that to 11.
The thing is, as the more “accessible”, friendly stuff becomes popular, and we laud it for it’s experimentalism, it would be great if the SOURCES of that experimentalism got their due. Yes, you might sometimes have to sit through 15 minutes of knob-twiddling static. But if you are patient, you might just have one of the most sublime musical experiences of your life. And to be clear here, I am not talking about me – I am a pale, margin-walker between what I saw tonight and more accessible, melodic pop music [choke, and laugh if you must]. I am talking about pure, experimental soundscapes that transport you to places you’ve forgotten, and dreams you had last night that you only vaguely remember, and, sometimes, to the darkest fears cowering in the depths of your soul. Please, support this stuff. It is the engine of the music you love.
OK. Preachy rant over.
tonight’s gig was put on by Grind Sight Open Eye: http://www.myspace.com/grindsightopeneye
Not having been there I can only say, preach it brother! Experimental music is proof that some higher logic is beyond our comprehension yet we strive to grasp it anyway, and at times, gloriously.
i do like when ted gets involved! in my defence, i’ve been to only 1 gig this entire year.
( but it’s that kind of passion about music that makes me sad i’m missing so many great shows.
Ted, no worries for hijacking the thread. The only thing I’d say in my defence is that I don’t generally like pure experimental soundscapes. It’s the same with blues, jazz and all that stuff – I like what it does to music that you would nominally call indie or pop, but I don’t like it in its raw form.
I have certainly seen some really good stuff, don’t get me wrong, but I think that generally I am not really cut out for the more experimental side of things. Although it must be said that I am personally making progress down that road – not all that quickly though.
Top comment, though.
i didn’t mean to put anyone on the defensive. I saw something amazing, and I know that it wouldn’t have been to a lot of people’s tastes. I thought, though, what a shame that there isn’t more crossover in attendance, because the pure experimental soundscapes push the edges of music and pulls the center out with it. And the more people that show up on the edges, the healthier the scene becomes. To misqoute Bert and Ernie by way of Brian Eno: “You wouldn’t want to live there, but its nice to know what’s on the moon.”
the main problem i have with ‘pure experimental soundscapes’ is that you can’t sing along
that sounds like noel gallacher who claimed oasis were better than radiohead cause you couldn’t sing along to a radiohead song down the pub.
maybe it does….but i love Radiohead
I’ll tell you what’s on the moon, David Thomas Fucking Broughton is what.
&, oh, for a TPM (or whatever it is now), the new Sonic Youth album is fucking dreadful. They’re in their ’50s for fuck’s sake & STILL shitting out this self-indulgent dry wank-hole cough.
It makes me fucking laugh; all the various SY forums chatter concerns the track Sacred Trickster — I mean. Who the fuck talks like that anymore or uses phrases like that in life OR in lyrics? Junked up fucking New York hipsters out of touch with fucking reality is who. The ‘fans’ are declaring ‘return to form’ yadda yadda bullshit. That song in particular is being held up as the example of the album’s ‘brilliance’. Which is to say its a 2min slice of tuneless Kim Gordon cum target. & it’s the first track on the album. & they gave it as a free download/teaser. Which means they’ve effectively shot their bolt.
Why do I bring that up? ‘experimental’ soundscapes as mentioned above – or, in SY’s case, masturbatory feedback fan baiting. Jesus (& apologies Tart) it’s no longer 1972 — no one is fucking interested in a middle finger ta-ta to ‘The Man’ via a self indulgent electrical noise experiments.
Frankly, If I want to hear 50 minutes of droning, wailing monotony I’ll fuck TWoTH.
(can you tell I’m enormously knackered & in a foul mood today? & it’s only cunting Wednesday. Yippee)
you in a time warp DC?
(the TWoTH bit – droning, wailing monotony – was a joke)
I don’t think it’s necessarily a criticism to not be able to sing along to something. There’s different aesthetics, and so different ways of enjoying it. Tom, how many Godspeed songs can you sing along to? And how much do you love them?
One of my favorite gigs was an experimental night at Henry’s. There’s a lot of it I love, and then there’s a lot of it that doesn’t do anything for me.
But I think that’s true of any genre – there’s a small amount of innovators, and the rest just go through the motions. Experimental music doesn’t have to be self indulgent, but I guess it all depends on your frame of reference. I remember OK Computer coming out and a lot of Radiohead fans complaining that it was too experimental. Little did they know what was in store….
Fuck. Thursday, even. See? Horrendously tired.
i think you need to go and see your therapist DC?
50 minutes? It was a very implausible joke unless you’ve been hanging out with Sting and Trudi.
Which should be punishable by death IMHO. “Willingly Fraternising with Cunts” has to be up there with Treason.
what do we do about Saturday then?
Bart – ….Godspeed have beautiful melodies and drama about their music
Oh I’m not having a go at experimentation per se – that is an integral part to music making. It doesn’t survive without it. I’m just talking about masturbatory self indulgent/snake-eating-tail noiseniks who seem to harbour the impression they are somewhat relevant.
You are right, music doesn’t necessarily have to be singalongable (for that is what atmospheric composition is all about) but the sort of stuff you’re talking about, & we’re agreeing upon, is generally aurally pleasing OR has the good sense to include something within its structure to tap into our brain’s need for repetition &/or melody (subtle or otherwise).
Sonic Youth have failed miserably for years to do just that on any consistent basis. I love their early stuff, their de-tuned clatter & subversive structuring – BUT, crucially, in 90% of it, somewhere, was a fucking tune.
For the last however many albums it’s been a public display of FUCK YOU (add any NY guitar band over the last 10yrs)! WE INVENTED A SCENE (ok we couldn’t really play the instruments, but) HERE’S SOME POINTLESS SQUALLING FEEDBACK INSTEAD OF REAL SONGS TO BLOW UP YOUR ASS. THAT’LL BE $10 YOU GULLIBLE CUNTS…
That’s what I can’t stand. Or racists.
i think you need to go and see your therapist DC?
Or the Dream Beds salesman up at Culverhouse Cross.
50 minutes? It was a very implausible joke unless you’ve been hanging out with Sting and Trudi.
Are you telling us you don’t get a service for at least the length of an album? Mr. Toad!
I’ve never in my life been driven from the auditorium prior to David Thomas Broughton in Anstruther. I had to go outside and sit on the steps in the fresh air. It was beyond self-indulgent wank, the guy seemed to be aware he was wasting our time and actually getting off on it.
A deeply unpleasent experience. Performance art? My hairy fucking arse.
I didn’t like what I heard of Yusuf Azak last time Matthew brought him up on here, as Matthew’s handy link illustrates if you scroll down through the comments, and it would take a lot to tempt me to see him live. I believe it was a character in dodgy Aussie soap Home & Away (my sister used to watch it) who once said “I wouldn’t open the curtains if he was playing in the back yard.”
And as for difficult looking and “Amazing!” sounding guitar playing, does anyone remember Karen?
Haha! I’m glad I linked back to that thread – there’s some quality comedy on there that I’d forgotten all about!
I’m having a bit of a chuckle to myself here!
Woah.
David Thomas Broughton was one of the highlights of Homegame for me. And his Tracer Trails show at the Bedlam Theatre a couple of years ago is still one of my favorite gigs ever of all time.
But, you know, horses for courses, and all that.
i think i kinda like DTB….do i Bart?
I’d like to say “yes”.
that Karren was cool
I think you would hate David Thomas Broughton, Chutters.
i think i’ve seen him live….listening to his myspace now….i’m liking….realy good
sorry Dylan
Enjoy, I missed Burns Unit for that shit. Hoo-fucking-ray.
David Thomas Broughton is fucking brilliant – no debate about it.
Granted, that was a very confrontational show, and definitely not one I would recommend to start with, but he is definitely NOT just pissing about and wanking himself off by being smugly abstract.
I know that if I were judging solely on the basis of that performance I might be tempted to agree, but believe me, generally he manages to create a brilliant shifting interplay between abstract noise and lovely melodic refrains – generally shifting from one to the other just as soon as you think you’ve got a handle on a song.
He may have some off shows, in fact it’s almost inevitable with that kind of material, but the guy is seriously, seriously fucking good.
So you can all Fuck. Right. Off.
I’ve got to agree with Dylan on this, I found most of DTB really quite irritating. The really fucking annoying thing though is that when he came out and started looping his guitar I really wanted to enjoy it, and tried to get into it, but it just went to far for me.
Ha, and what a post to double post on!
“So you can all Fuck. Right. Off.”
Matthew, thank you for pointing out to me that it must be my limited experience of live music along with my inabilty to comprehend performance art that led to me being driven from the auditorium.
I was mistakenly thinking it was because the noise he was making was abusive and juvenile, and that he was poncing about on stage like a twat.
I will never find out if that was an “off-show” for him, because I will never provide him with any more of my valuable time.
So you, sir, can fuck off and take David Thomas Broughton with you!
Dylan,
I’m sitting at my desk doing the “lifting the handbag” mime, and saying “ooooh” in a girly voice.
phew
Me too, Bart! Heheh!
and stamping your feet going i’m right
I’m always right, Tom. You know this.
Swine flu is a load of bollocks invented as a smoke-screen for the credit crunch, and David Thomas Broughton is rubbish.
There. Cast iron facts, the both of them!
my arse…granted the whole thing has been overblown….it’s still real tho….
That’s true Tom. I read they’re predicting anything up to 10,000 deaths as a result of this new strain of flu.
That’ll be a rise of nearly 3% on the 300,000 people who already die each year of the various existing strains of flu!
I know they say that the flu bug doesn’t thrive in warm weather and this summer is going to be hot and dry, but I’m going to sit out the next few months in a hermetically sealed underground bunker just in case!
Or maybe I’ll just say bollocks to it all and get on with my life.
Ooooooohoohoohoohooooo! Dear me, gents…
The problem with that Homegame gig was manyfold: not enough people in the audience gave a shit whether it was tongue in cheek, deeply serious, or simply unbelievably shit – where Dylan walked because of the appallingly trite noize wank / ill-conceived/executed ‘slap-schtick’, I was thoroughly disappointed that the germination of really good ideas was killed by art-house posturing & smuggity smug McSmug self-aware pretentious bullshit dressed up as ‘performance’ ‘art’ ‘avant garde’ & de-construction of form.
The problem, Toad, Bart, et al, with all that, is simple: regardless of you telling me Homegame wasn’t a representative outing it’s extraordinarily unlikely I’ll go see him again (unless by accident) as I wouldn’t want to waste shortchanged as I felt at Homegame. My guess is most of the people there that night felt the same way.
He was his own enemy that night (the hubbub of chatter unassociated with what was happening on stage) through his performance was testament to that. In fact, you could say he Broughton all this backlash himself.
O yeh. O yes I did.
(that joke is nowhere near as excruciating as DTB’s feather boa deliberately tied to mic stand/walk away/”but, wait! I can’t, grunt, ponder, get away, gnash, wide-eyed surprise, I am held against my, gnarr, will, zoinks!” skit)
re-do this bit as I appear to have blanked a bit:
The problem, Toad, Bart, et al, with all that, is simple: regardless of you telling me Homegame wasn’t a representative outing it’s extraordinarily unlikely I’ll go see him again (unless by accident) as I wouldn’t want to waste my time & money, or feel as shortchanged as I felt at Homegame. My guess is most of the people there that night felt the same way.
yadda yadda
I second that.
My favorite bit was when he pressed a button on what looked like a computer game controller, and for some reason the ensuing noise was about 10 times louder than anything else (which must have very nearly fucked the PA), sending a huge jolt of surprise through the entire audience, and causing me to laugh uncontrollably.
That and the scarf/mic stand trick, which was, as DC quite rightly points out, hilarious.
my fave bit is when i cried at the speech’s…..
See, I was worried for a moment reading his last comment that Bart had gone completely mental, but luckily he brought it all back with that quite exquisite bit of piss taking.
See? I can appreciate talent and skill even when I don’t agree with it!
You are quite welcome to his bollocks.
The problem, Toad, Bart, et al, with all that, is simple: regardless of you telling me Homegame wasn’t a representative outing it’s extraordinarily unlikely I’ll go see him again (unless by accident) as I wouldn’t want to waste shortchanged as I felt at Homegame. My guess is most of the people there that night felt the same way.”
Shorter: when people play gigs which you don’t like, you are less likely to go and see them in future.
Wow, really?
And I bet that had this been one of his more musically accessible performances then the theatrics would have come across to you a lot better. I, for one, loved it.
i reckon us 3 should take you 2 outside and discuss the finer points of Lord Queensbury
I’d just like to clarify that I’m not really that intersted in his bollocks.
Might buy one of his albums, though.
You filmed the DTB set, didn’t you Matthew?
I think you should get it up here as a matter of priority so that everyone – other than Bart and yourself who are clearly deranged – can see what a carnival of shite it really was.
I didn’t. Try this.
Nah.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_fzBlqL_GE&feature=related
i like this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sou-Y7d710k
Dylan – this might be more your kind of thing
oh i forgot DC here’s one for you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLGDTwlEGE8&feature=fvst
hey Toad maybe you should do an easy listening (for those who don;t want their ears and minds to work too hard) podcast
just a though
Haha! Fuck off.
Dylan – not to go too far back, but I couldn’t answer this one during work hours.
Where did I impugn either your appreciation or experience either of performance art or live music? I said that this wasn’t a great introduction and that if you’d seen more of David Thomas Broughton specifically then it might have given you a different slant on things.
Then I tried to describe what he more usually sounds like.
Stop being a big huffy girl’s blouse.
Shorter: when people play gigs which you don’t like, you are less likely to go and see them in future.
Wow, really?
And I bet that had this been one of his more musically accessible performances then the theatrics would have come across to you a lot better. I, for one, loved it.
Whatever reason he chose to be as ‘challenging’ (read: unlistenable) he’s fucked any repeat business as far as I, Dylan & anyone else who felt the same leaving his gig are concerned, regardless of his more enlightened endeavours.
It’s not a ‘wow, really?’ point at all, that much is obvious; I’m simpy expressing a disappointment that he chose to self-destruct what could have been quite a compelling gig. I was intrigued by the guitar playing & the snippets of melody, but if I want to listen to pseudo-contemporary art as musical form deconstruction I’d go to the MA finals presentation at Howard Gardens Art College up the road here.
However, as I can’t stand that sort of pompous, pointless wank (especially as most of this stuff is simply a re-hash of a re-hash done far better & with more sense of purpose by those at the real vanguard of avant garde & musical experimentation – Eugene Chadbourne, John Zorn, Velvet Monkeys, even John Cale, spring to mind – back when there was an actual worth & point to this kind of thing) I’m not really going to find myself finding a slot for it in my diary any day soon.
Clever is one thing, being an indignant, portentous tit is another.
oh i forgot DC here’s one for you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLGDTwlEGE8&feature=fvst
hey Toad maybe you should do an easy listening (for those who don;t want their ears and minds to work too hard) podcast
Tom, it’s not a question of working any of my muscles or senses too hard – I recognise the guy has a talent hidden in there somewhere, but justifying a wall of racket in the name of expression is the stuff of laziness & a lack of imagination. The fact is anyone with a handful of chords & a loop pedal can do what he did; more than most, however, do not simply because it’s fucking pish.
Still, you have to hand it to him; we are talking about the gig. That, I suppose, is all he really could want to happen at the end of the day.
my fave bit is when i cried at the speech’s…
forgot to say, possibly the funniest comment in the whole thread.
I’ll just pop into this one last time before heading off to make a lazy unimaginative wall of noise. There was nothing pompous or art-snobbish self-indulgent or masturbatory about last night’s gig. It wasn’t a rehash. It was well-crafted, structured, nuanced, and full of beauty in places. As for posturing, I’ve seen plenty of that in the indie scene too.
now now now…. I can’t obviously pick on anyone here but DC as we’ve been having this ridiculous conversation about experimental music and Throbbing Gristle and such… so what is it about experimentalism that is so locked in 1972 and is absolutely not, (heaven forbid it escape,) apropos to 2009??? (that was a fine, long sentence, eh?) Do you possibly even imagine that the state of the world in 1972 vs. the state of the world in 2009 is not a place wherein the boundaries of taste, tolerance and inclusion should be challenged? It’s not as if the experimentalists achieved something so we’re all living in a happy anarchy. (and don’t get me going on how the political project of anarchy is pointless, I’ll just write a tome and bore myself again… no, I’ll skip over to my own blog for that, fuckers!)
I’m siding with Matthew on this one (!) because it seems that if it’s not to your taste then it’s something you all walk out of saying it’s derivative, trite, pompous, lazy, unimaginative, even abusively self-referencing. You know, experimental music was always about making the audience uncomfortable. You were discomforted, it succeeded. Voila! He obviously had musical talent and skill, and he obviously chose at what moments to use that in a way that your culturally conditioned minds made it into “music.” Conversely, he chose moments when the noise was not “music” to you. So what? And as for the attitude of the performer… do we not allow smugness, self-satisfaction, etc., in the performers we admire so much? Look at how we forgive the much loved (around here at least) Tom Waits as he struts about like a cock in a hen house. Pfffttt!
shutting up now, like I said, I’ve not seen him, so I’m only picking apart the argument, not the scene. xoxox
Oi, cross posting Ted, …. I love you, xoxo
No.
Leave me alone to flounce in peace if that’s what I feel like doing.
Nailed it.
Fucking nailed it to the fucking wall.
Of course, Tart, it’s important that artists continue to explore thier boundaries and expand their creativity. If that process stops they turn into Snowplay and Cold Patrol.
However, there is a point that can be breached where art and self-expression cross into self-indulgence.
I can sit here, put my pants on my head and belch the tune to Agadoo; but would that be art? Would that be a performance worthy of display? Or would it simply make me a bit of a twat?
If you are going to use up some of your audience’s time as an artist, then you have to provide a degree of entertainment.
And That’s what was lacking from this Broughton fella’s show. He was no more entertaining than a pissed-up stag-night participant getting his cock out and waving it around in the pub.
Dull, vain, stupid and frankly repulsive.
ok i came in a bit late here but is seemed to get a bit focussed on one particular idea of ‘experimental’ music. I saw DTB too at homegame and admit my first live impression was not a good one, but that can come down to many reasons with any kind of music ie. bad sound, shit crowd etc. I tried to get into see him on the next day at the Hall and what i heard, although brief, seemed a whole different bag, and quite interesting.
I say that as I think that about alot of music and artists. Take animal collective for example. When I got there first albums i was baffled and close to horrified. Seeing them live many times and in context with the new stuff, I get a whole new love for the earlier stuff, the experimentation and the way they have changed as a live act too. That goes for many people, Jim O’rourke ( Let the fighting ensue ) but the first record I got of his, Insignificance, is one of my favourite records ever, but I also admire and enjoy the fact he still experiments heavily in electronic and drone music. These things all have there place in the scope of things. Yes there are originators and followers, this goes for pop music as much as ‘experimental’ music, or any other music.. Personally, I think the argument of live and recorded formats have alot to do with the enjoyment of types of experimantal music. Like Ted saying what we missed at the bowery, I have seen so many strange and wonderful things live and it really puts things into context. But at the same time I have bought a Wolf Eyes CD and cowered in the corner of the room trying to turn the record player off with a stick. But seeing them Live was one of the most rapturous experiences of my life. Same with folks like Fennesz or Alva Noto… And fuck if we didnt have all these noisy rackets to run away from and enjoy sweet sweet melodies again.. It would all just get a bit boring no? That was a gash end to a gash rant, but fuck it It’s three am and I’m knackered. And Matthews new boneshaker hurt my spine. ( It’s still the most beautiful thing in the world though)
going back to self indulgence…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvaA4jQqEsA&feature=channel_page
c’mon we all wanted to do this when we were 16 right?
I think he is mocking us with his hands… there is a C in there right?
On one of his songs he actually had the laptop play the easy bits, … genius
god bless hinterland for letting me see this, pure entertainment
I’m pretty much sure it is the scary old woman from terrahawks though…
Glenn Kotche.
Glenn Kotche! fuck yeah.
Little Bear – I keep telling Mrs. Toad that my boneshaker is the most beautiful thing in the world, but she’s having none of it.
You’re also one hundred percent right about context. Even with Grandaddy, a band I love, I had to listen to Sophtware Slump before I could go back and love Under the Western Freeway.
And as to the argument that ‘anyone can do what he does’, that’s just lazy and stupid. Anyone can make the noises, sure, but that’s not the point. Putting it all together is the skill, and a lot of times he absolutely nails that side of it.
That argument gets applied to painting all the time, and it’s just silly. Anyone can paint a big blue rectangle in the middle of yellow canvas, but getting it so that it reliably triggers a certain emotion is a skill (or an instinct, whatever you want), and very few people can do that.
Christ, it took me almost two years to hear ‘music’ in the Wedding Present, and if his lyrics aren’t self-indulgent then nothing is. They are also often genius, but things can be both.
Thanks Tart!
Dylan: “I can sit here, put my pants on my head and belch the tune to Agadoo; but would that be art? Would that be a performance worthy of display? Or would it simply make me a bit of a twat?”
Yes, you’d be a twat if you sat there at your computer doing that. Getting someone to care enough about it to put you on stage would make you less of a twat. Getting someone to like it enough to ask you back, even less of a twat. Slowly building a fanbase one soul-destroying nearly empty room at a time, you stop being a twat. Getting invited to do it at a festival like Homegame, you’ve earned my respect.
“anyone with a handful of chords & a loop pedal can do what he did.”
probably.
unimaginative?
maybe.
lazy?
What you see and hear an artist do on stage is a tiny fraction of the effort, persistence, and passion it takes to even be asked to perform, let alone have people care about it. You can say the result is crap, and you dont have to like it, and you can walk out, but calling it lazy because it looks easy to you is really unjust.
oh, and BTW, loop pedals can be a real bitch to sync properly unless you spend a lot of time working with them
how was you gig last night Ted?
heh. Thanks for asking. It was great. All my gear actually worked, the sound was amazing, and I didn’t fuck up that much. What more could I ask for really? . . . Oh yeah, turnout. A respectable number of people turned out, especially given all the other things going on (I truly expected to be playing for the other bands and the engineer). This one wasn’t soul-destroying at all!
sounds good….one of these days i’ll get to see you pal
thanks for that. looking forward to it.
one of these i’ll get back to see you ted! probably at trampoline in june right enough!
Thanks Euan! Given the other bands on that bill, if turnout isn’t high for that one, there is something seriously out of whack. Really looking forward to it. Thanks for putting me on the bill. Your nights are always top-quality.
And I dont want to sound bitter about attendance. I’m not. I am truly grateful to each and every person that comes through the door. It’s their time and money they are spending, and we musicians aren’t in any way entitled to any of it. In the end, it’s survival of the fittest. I just wanted to try to nudge the definition of “fittest” a bit to include some of the things I think are great but overlooked (and again, I wasn’t really talking about me. But of course, these things tend to come around to ouselves!)
Thanks again.
May I also say that I actually agree with DC that DTB’s theatrics on this occasion overshadowed the music, which was a little annoying. It’s usually a lot more restrained than that.
can just state for the record that little bear (as his title may imply) is not my son.
I’ve been for the tests and everything.
anyway…yusuf azak.
i’ve heard two eps and seen one live show and can confirm that this man scares the crap out of me he’s so good.
no son…. you wish…lover…
this post has kept me awake
i love it
you too dad
I have asked Monsieur Azak to release on Song, by Toad Records, but apparently there are other options. Fair enough of course, because he’s superb, but I’ll be gutted if he ends up signing for someone else.
There will always be plenty of support to be had around here though. Still a shame, mind. It would be so cool to release his records.
Wow, this is some thread. And here am I, day late, dollar short. Ah well. I like this Azak character, though.
I’m glad this thread eventually got back to Yusuk Azak.
We get a lot of offers for touring bands via agents etc. at Sneaky’s, and it’s quite rare that and artist of his calibre will get in touch personally through myspace, we’ll have a listen, be bowled over, and straight away offer them a gig….
But Yusuf definitely did that for us and we hope to put him on again before too long -> hopefully to a bigger crowd!
Nick, we’re working on that. Hopefully there’ll be a Bowery and a Trampoline show in the fairly neear future, and I’ll have a word with the Limbo fellas too, to see if they can sneak him onto a bill somewhere. Hopefully by the next time he plays Sneaky’s there’ll be a bit more awareness of his existence. He’s more than a little under the radar at the moment.
So are we to gather from this that the good Mister Azak is now a part of the S,bT Records family?
No, unfortunately we are not. He is talking to another label at the moment, and until that is resolved that is all he’s going to focus on, which is fair enough. If it doesn’t work out, though, I’d hope we’d be in with a good shout. We’ll see, though. Frankly, they’d be idiots if they didn’t make him an offer if you ask me, but if they are really busy at the moment it might work in our favour. We can but see.
If you can’t out out the record do you think you could at least get a publishing deal on his haircut? It’s a niche market for now, for sure, but he might just make it as a breakthrough artist next year, and then who knows???
I like noise some of it is dead ace and maybe the music scene up here needs some artistic statements just for the fucking sake of it, go have a fag if your sweaty, If your real and you dont mind change to the last 200 years of jools holand than you wont mind me sayin it feels better than being bored stupid by some boring quasi-fife cunt twiddling his fingers and is words about how borgioues his girlfriends mustache is by the logfire. I mean noise is like a slap and thats what the edinburgh needs. Swine flu wont kill me, Fife folk flu might
Spell check when your souning hard. Thelly say anarkists cunt spell
and another thing people from fife cant make good electronic music either. My dads from fife he hates hip hop and gabba but in his defence He was a cleethorpes northern soul ganster, and a boxer.
And another thing toad face why did you not reviw my amazing 5 minute set of twin turbine gameboy hacking snobbish art school jazz pish… your finger has no pulse
the shaggs are the best band in the world
cat stephans
That, old chap, is a new record.
I didn’t review your “amazing 5 minute set of twin turbine gameboy hacking snobbish art school jazz pish” because I didn’t entirely know what to make of it, although I liked large bits of it despite myself, and I am going to wait until I’ve seen you perform it a couple more times and I can digest it properly.
P.S. You’re being mental.